ASU staff and faculty interact at the AI Community of Practice Unconference

Collaboration and creativity at the forefront of ASU’s AI community of practice

Jake Garcia

October 17, 2024

Operating under the idea that the whole is greater than the sum of the parts, an assortment of cross-disciplinary and cross-enterprise staff and faculty from Arizona State University (ASU) convened Wednesday, Oct. 16 for the AI Community of Practice (AICOP) to share knowledge about artificial intelligence (AI) and brainstorm ways to use it in the future.

The convening was collaborative and served to spotlight the university’s integration of AI into academic practices. Attendees listened to a series of panel discussions and spent the afternoon in an Open Space setting, where they were encouraged to create their own agenda, learn at their own pace and engage in discussions with people from different departments.

Enrique Borges, community learning program manager at ASU’s Mary Lou Fulton Teachers College, said the format of communities of practice and the topic of AI were the perfect match – just as AI does not come with a prescribed use or set of instructions, the community of practice does not follow a specific format for collaboration, instead empowering individuals to tailor the insights gained to their unique needs.

“The point of the community of practice is for like-minded individuals to come together to try to address a challenge or scenario that they are unilaterally facing,” he said. “A collective mindset of people who have different experiences, tools and skills can approach any problem with much greater force and ability than any single individual could.”

Borges serves as the AI expert in his department and presented in a panel titled, “Building AI Communities: Frameworks for Collaboration.” He emphasized principled innovation, urging others to consider how AI could solve tasks and increase efficiency within their own sectors, while also ensuring it is used ethically and responsibly.

“AI is everywhere. It's on my watch, it's on my phone, it's on my computer. Sometimes I don't even realize I'm using it,” he said. “I want to place character and values at the heart of our decisions and actions. We’re trying to ensure that no matter how we use AI, we’re doing it with principles that guide us.”

For keynote speaker Anne Jones, vice provost for undergraduate education, these principles at the university level consist of teaching students effectively, achieving equitable outcomes and enabling individuals to pursue learning tailored to their needs and goals.

“Assume that everyone in the classroom is using AI,” she instructed faculty members. “Take that as a positive, and achieve something that wouldn’t be possible otherwise.”

Jones continued that conversation in a panel with Kyle Bowen, deputy chief information officer at ASU Enterprise Technology, Amanda Gulley, chief of product and user experience at EdPlus, Michael Simeone, associate research professor, and Lukas Wenrick, senior director of learning innovations.

Simeone shared findings on faculty views of AI use in teaching. Most opinions could be categorized into “should we use AI?”, “how could we use AI?” and “I would use AI if given the opportunity.” Each of these perspectives, he said, is valuable to the learning experience.

Borges echoed that sentiment shortly after. “It's important to talk about people's varying opinions on the use of AI, whether or not they even want to be a part of it and how much of it they want to use,” he said.

For those who have embraced AI and are incorporating it in their daily work, other panels discussed the AI tools available to all ASU students and staff, such as Adobe Express, Adobe Firefly, ChatGPT Edu, Google Gemini, Microsoft 365 Copilot, Copilot Chat and Zoom AI Companion.

Bowen described ASU’s AI rollout as not a technological shift, but a cultural one. He said his mission with his team is to prepare the institution to make use of the technology safely, create a sound technology infrastructure and tell the story of its use to help others see its potential.

“Some people might think the train has left the station, but it’s not too late,” he said. “That window is open and now is the time to get involved.”